A Winner is You!
by avatarjk137
Summary: Characters from all canons are gathering at De Centro Del Mundo, The Mall of the World, for a fighting tournament the likes of which the world has never seen. The prize? Fame, fortune, and one wish. Introduction to my A Winner Is You! tournament.
1. Introduction

**Alright, people, this is the introductory scene for my tournament. What kind of tournament? Well, in-story, any canon character (no OCs) can participate, but in reality, authors are the ones who enter, and authors are the ones who judge. Interested? Read on.**

**And for those who are worried, this is not against the site rules or Terms of Service the way I've formatted it. Which reminds me:**

**I do not own any characters mentioned here, except for Death by Chocolate.**

**A Winner is You!**

**Introduction**

A crowd of people were milling about. Not just any people; these people were all very special. You could tell that because most of them looked special, and most of the rest of them looked like they were trying to pretend they weren't special. They were special in all kinds of relatively obvious ways; some dressed in outlandish clothing, some weren't even human, and there were some there who you could only tell were special by looking in their eyes. In this crowd, if you said, "You're not special," well, those would be fighting words. Actually, there were an awful lot of fighting words being thrown around already. Words like "punch", and "hadoken". After all, this was a fighting tournament.

They were standing near the middle of a huge, circular room. The room was about one hundred feet in diameter, with ten-foot-wide balconies on the rim. The balconies formed a giant spiral going up to the massive and awe-inspiring domed ceiling, with multiple large gates leading to the eight wings of the mall on each story. A half-dozen transparent elevators lined the inside of the balconies, providing a quicker method of travel for the rushed or lazy. Beautiful fountains, comfortable benches, and carefully chosen foliage decorated the floor of the room, along with an undecorated central stage, which the contestants clustered along one or two edges of. Some sat on the edge of the stage, talking down to the others and enjoying the perceived height difference granted by a simple four-foot ledge.

This fighting tournament had attracted some of the best fighters from across the world. It had originally been set up as a publicity stunt – the mall this tournament took place in, El Centro De El Mundo, was to be the largest mall in the world. It was finished ahead of schedule, and they hadn't yet found enough manpower to run the place. In the meantime, this tournament was to be televised primetime, and hopefully make everybody involved oodles of cash. At some point, the supernatural had gotten mixed in with the ordeal, which was the reason most of the contestants were here – the prize, in addition to fame and fortune (more specifically, winning a televised tournament and two hundred and fifty thousand U.S. dollars), was one wish.

The contestants turned as two figures strode onto the arena. The first was a fat, balding man with a large round nose. He wore a typical suit and tie, and his remaining black hair stuck up and out, forming two frizzy points on either side of his head. They looked like horns, forming a contrast to the pleasant and mildly clueless smile featured between his nose and suit collar (he didn't have much in the way of chin or neck). "Ladies and gentlemen, it's very nice to meet you. I represent the owners of this fine establishment, and I'd like to say I'm thrilled to see that each one of you attended. Now let me introduce you to our host…"

The person behind him brushed past to introduce himself. "…Death by Chocolate. I'll be hosting the tournament for you guys, and I'll be granting your wish as well." It was obvious from even a quick glance that Death by Chocolate was not, in fact, human. He was perhaps six feet tall and a bit on the skinny side, not counting the large pair of horns adorning his head, but that wasn't what was extraordinary about him. His eyes glowed yellow, and the pupil and iris were hardly discernable, so you had to look closely to see where he was looking, but that wasn't the strange thing about him either. He had razor sharp fangs that showed when he smiled, pointed ears with several earrings, hooked claws on his fingers and toes, and a pair of blades sticking out from his wrist and folded against his forearms, but none of those things were the first thing you'd notice about him. The first thing you'd notice about him was that he was made up entirely of bittersweet chocolate.

The supernatural aspect of the tournament had begun when some closet cultist in the board of directors had suggested that they summon a demon for the tournament. After all, nothing would gather fighters like the prospect of a wish being granted, and demons could do that sort of thing. Furthermore, he could host – a demon hosting the show would be attention-getting, unique, and edgy, and demons were, as a rule, charismatic enough to host a fighting tournament. Still, this sent a ripple of doubt through some of the entrants – if the wish came from a demon, could it be trusted?

"This man," DbC said with a wave to the suit, "is a greasy corporate sleazeball. His name isn't important." He turned to said sleazeball, and narrowed his eyes. "You can go now," he said through a threatening smile.

"Uh, er, right. Well, I bid you all goodbye." He hurriedly waddled off, leaving the demon on the stage looking down at the contestants casually.

"Okay, I'm going to explain the tournament to you. I won't repeat myself, so listen up," Death by Chocolate said casually. "You will each be assigned opponents, whom you will fight until you win. Victory can be achieved however you like – surrender, loss of consciousness, or ring out. In this case, the entire mall is the arena, so you pretty much need to launch somebody into orbit to constitute a ring out. Even if you lose, you can keep fighting in this tournament; the winner is whomever has the best win record at tournament's end. The fights will come one at a time, with each day containing a full round. The first round starts tomorrow morning. Any questions?" A hand was raised. "Yes, Mr. Grey?"

Mr. Grey wore a button-down shirt, jeans, sneakers, and a baseball cap. He looked normal enough, with thick eyebrows and a mild smile being his only standout features. "Yes, will you be providing food for us, or can we buy from the food court at a discount, or something?"

"Ah, good question. Mr. Grey – may I call you Gabriel? – the food courts are unmanned, but fully stocked. Feel free to take whatever you like from them, and heat it up or cook it yourself if you feel so inclined." Another hand shot up. "Yes?"

"Are we allowed to assist others in fights?" asked an older man whose white hair was in a long beard and topknot. He wore red robes with black trim, and his topknot featured a gold flame decoration.

"You can't attack somebody if it's their battle and not yours, Avatar Roku, but anything less than that – for example, throwing a weapon to an unarmed participant – is fair game."

"Will we be told anything about our opponents?" This question came from a pale young man with milk-white eyes and long black hair. He wore a black headband with a silver plate on the forehead, black-and-cream-colored clothing that looked to be traditional Japanese, and high-topped black sandals.

"Sorry, Neji-san," the edible demon said politely, "but you only see their names and pictures. Anything else must be found out on your own. Try asking these people about themselves; the tournament doesn't start until next morning, and who knows, they might be willing to share."

"Yes, Gabriel?"

"Will we be allowed to call our loved ones?"

"Sure, why not. There are pay phones next to each restroom area. Knock yourself out." Another raised hand. Yes, Stitch?"

The blue, koala-like creature began speaking in rapid Tantalog, which stumped most of the other contestants. After all, they didn't speak Tantalog. DbC, however, listened patiently. At the end, he looked offended. "Why the hell would I do that? If I'm hungry, I can just lick the roof of my mouth. Biting my finger off would be stupid. Any further questions? Yes, sir?"

The man wore a red kimono and sandals, and had matching crimson hair. Poking up through said hair were a pair of fox ears, and he had nine red tails swishing softly behind him. "Are we going to be penalized for damaging the environment?" He asked, an alarming smile playing across his face below the whisker-like marks and red eyes.

"First of all, let me just say it's an honor to meet you, _Kyuubi no Kitsune._" DbC gave his lowest, most dramatic bow. "There is no solid penalty system, but we ask that you fight your opponent rather than your environment. After all, we must remember who is paying for this tournament." Gabriel raised his hand. "Another question, Mr. Grey?"

"I just thought I'd ask…" this time, Gabriel had an almost hungry gleam in his eyes. "Can we kill our opponents?" He hastily added, "I thought I'd ask for everybody."

"Good question," Death by Chocolate said with a grin. "Unfortunately, you won't be allowed to kill your opponents." He planted one hand on the ground, and a stream of chocolate poured from it and flowed across the stage, where it created a solid chocolate sculpture of a man. DbC straightened up, and a knife made of chocolate formed in his left hand. "For example, there will be none of this." He threw the knife overhand, and it embedded itself in the chest of the sculpture, right in the heart. "And none of _this._" This time, he formed a pistol out of milk chocolate in his left hand, and pulled the trigger, firing a dark chocolate bullet into the head of the chocolate training dummy. Finally, he created a chocolate hand grenade in his left hand, and pulled the pin out. "And certainly none of THIS!" He threw the grenade in a gentle underhand arc, where it landed between the legs of the poor delicious sculpture. The grenade exploded on contact with the ground, sending a shower of chocolate across the stage. A few shards even peppered the audience. "Delicious." DbC popped the grenade pin into his mouth. "Any more questions?"

"Umm, yeah, I got one." This question came, oddly enough, from a reasonably fit-looking 13-year-old girl in designer clothes. She had brown hair with a purple streak. "Are we gonna have to fight, like, old guys…" her amber eyes shifted over to Avatar Roku, "…and blind people…" she looked at Neji, who scowled back, "…and, um, painted koalas?" She looked at Stitch now. "'Cause that hardly seems fair."

"Oh, that's a good point, Miss Block." Death by Chocolate looked around in mock concern. "I mean, hell forbid Superman…" he gestured over to the freakishly muscular, red-and-blue-tights-wearing, underpants-on-the-outside superhero in question, "…or somebody even _more_ dangerous should have to fight an _unarmed, powerless middle-schooler._ That _would_ be unfair, wouldn't it, Massie?" Massie pouted and looked away.

"Are there any other questions?" he asked. "No? Great. Okay, and remember…" he jumped into the audience. "…there could be _supervillains_… hello, Magnus," he gave a pat on the shoulder of an older man in red and purple armor with a cape and helmet. "…or _demons_… Good luck, sir," he shook Kyuubi's hand. "…or even _mass murderers_ out here in the tournament…" he took off Gabriel's baseball cap and playfully tousled his dark brown hair. "…so be careful, everybody!" He leaned in to Gabriel and whispered in his ear, "Good acting. That performance was Oscar-worthy… _Sylar_." The fit-to-be-eaten-evil-spirit couldn't help but grin at the look of shock in Gabriel's face. "The tournament starts tomorrow at dawn, people! April 1st, 2008, it's all going down! Be ready to fight, or be ready to fail!"

**The End of the Beginning**

**Eager to see what comes next? So am I. But I'm not writing it. All of you are, or at least, all of you who enter. If you want to improve your writing skills, bring glory to your favorite character, and have a chance to win a fabulous prize (yes, I am offering prizes), then come to my forum of the same name. All will be explained. **


	2. Behind the Scenes, Part 1

**Hello, all. This is a 'behind the scenes' chapter for my first tournament, A Winner Is You. Expect humor, plot development, character development, and some explanation for what happened 'in-story' to the characters whose authors dropped out.**

**I don't own the great majority of the following characters. I only own Death by Chocolate and El Centro Del Mundo.**

**A Winner Is You: Behind the Scenes**

**Chapter 1: Damage and Control**

Night had fallen on El Centro Del Mundo. Across the mall, most of the contestants had gone to sleep in locations of their choosing. Roku slept with his back to his dragon on the roof. Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro, along with their crew (who had come as spectators), slept where they had fallen in one of the restaurants that had a stocked bar. Earlier that evening, they had completely emptied the restaurant's food and beer stocks, and half-trashed the place. Stitch and Angel slept together on a cushioned bench, and Massie Block slumbered comfortably in the most expensive bed in Bed, Bath and Beyond. Sylar had fallen asleep in a Sharper Image massage chair, his mind dancing with dark dreams.

Others had forgone sleep, or didn't need to sleep at all. Neji Hyuuga was meditating on his losses in the first two rounds, trying to discover how to avoid the humiliation of failure again. Vexen conducted dark studies in his lab as Marluxia tended to the poisonous blooms he had grown in a large atrium. Kabuto feverishly worked to study any possible opponents for Orochimaru's next round that he hadn't already collected data on, and Orochimaru himself pondered what the tournament's climax would be. Lancer, who didn't need sleep, had succumbed in his boredom to Deadpool's endless pestering, and now played backwards Scrabble with the insane mercenary.

Kyuubi no Kitsune watched. He didn't waste time watching the other contestants; they were largely beneath him, with only a few interesting exceptions. Nor did he watch the host; Death by Chocolate had fled behind an 'Employees Only' door, and the barrier was so laughably childish that Kyuubi had decided to honor it. No, he watched as lesser demons repaired the mall. Above Stitch and Angel, a pair of imps used simple time magic to reverse the shattering of a large piece of plate glass, and Kyuubi watched, fascinated, as the window imploded back into a single piece. Furniture reconstructed itself around him; a flooded sector of the mall dried up in moments and the wood dewarped, bullet holes closed up in plants and the insects hiding among them returned to life.

Kyuubi's slitted eyes narrowed; he wasn't doing this, so the host must have called in some help. It was truly a titanic effort for a minor patron demon to obtain so much assistance, so what was Death by Chocolate up to?

He turned to see more minor demons repairing a picnic table, but they weren't the generic, red-skinned, goat-horned things he saw earlier. These were inky-black little beasties, with shiny golden eyes and long antennae. They were called Heartless, and Kyuubi happened to know that DbC had no jurisdiction over them, so they shouldn't be helping. Behind them, a massive marble-and-gold fountain was repairing itself, apparently with no demonic presence of any kind to help it along. What could possibly be going on?

--

Looking out over the rollercoaster (where Leroy was snoring in the car's front seat) was a spacious conference room hidden behind a one-way mirror. The conference room was normally to be populated by some executives during their conferences, but they feared for their own safety too much to attend the tournament until the final round. Currently, a small group of people occupied the room, including the tournament's host and a very sleepy pointy-haired mid-level manager who was unlucky enough to be assigned to work with him. Death by Chocolate, looking out over the thrill ride with his chocolate hands behind his chocolate back, opened his mouth and spoke. "Dammit, dammit, damn it to Hell, thrice-damn it, damn it to a cold grey hell, damn it _back_ to a fiery hell, Goddamn it, Gods damn it, darn it to heck, damn it to hell _again,_ DAMN IT!" This last exclamation was punctuated by him turning and slamming his fist down on the table so hard his entire arm shattered. "Damn," he concluded, his entire arm growing back with a thought, created by a stream of chocolate from his shoulder.

"What's the problem?" The pointy-haired manager said. "Disaster's been averted, and the repairs are going smoothly."

"Disaster's been averted… yes, but only for now," the delectable daemon sighed. "Even with this much-valued assistance, these repairs are a chore. After this tournament I'll have no favors left to call in. How I let your bosses rope me into flash-repairs for the duration of the tournament, I'll never know."

"I guess they're just better with contracts than you are."

"Better with contracts?" Death by Chocolate cackled. "Yeah, I guess they're right, considering they didn't even have to give up their souls. I get a fifth of each of their souls, plus the soul of every employee of theirs." The already pasty manager paled. "Surprised? One of the board's a Satanist, which is why I'm here in the first place. It's also why the fine print of your contract lets them do what they like with your soul, much like a bank does what it likes with your money with only a vague promise you'll get it back."

"Is there even a vague promise I'll get it back? I'd be fine with a vague promise."

"Why don't I make one for you?" Death by Chocolate smiled wickedly. "Go get me a large hot chocolate – make it dark, use only the finest sweetened cocoa powder and whole milk, make it hot but not too hot, and top it off with whipped cream, mini marshmallows, and chocolate syrup drizzled on top of the whipped cream. I'm not going to repeat myself. Do it right, and I may just give you your soul back right now."

"Yessir-"

"Get going!" The spike-tressed 'B'-level manager scuttled out, wondering when exactly he had become an intern again. "Good, he's gone." Death by Chocolate turned to the other three people in the room, who had been sitting at the table, quietly watching the exchange with varying degrees of amusement. "Now we can talk. Okay, speed meeting. I've lost control of the situation, partially with the overall damage to the mall, but mostly with Kyuubi. Kyuubi threatened to destroy the mall if he's disqualified, and he knows I'm not powerful enough to stop him. I can't guarantee even all four of us can. Ideas for dealing with him?"

"Interfere with his fight," a man with spiky red hair, black clothing and a cocky grin suggested. "If he's too good to lose, we'll make him lose." Unbeknownst to Vexen and Marluxia, who had entered the tournament to scope it out, Death by Chocolate had scoped _them_out not long after. He had negotiated with their leader, Xemnas, who had agreed to assist in the tournament.

Axel was this assistance – he entered after Vexen and Marluxia, and was purposely paired up with Vexen in the first round, and told to throw the match. Afterwards, he withdrew in 'shame' and was given free roam of the mall, whereupon he promptly met up with Death by Chocolate and began manipulating the tournament to increase his teammates' chances of success. However, this wasn't working out – first Marluxia had lost a riddling game in round one, then Vexen proved he couldn't handle the former Avatar in the next round. Axel really didn't care about Organization XIII's involvement in the tournament, anyway – so he stayed, deciding that he'd rather just play kingmaker.

"If he found out we meddled to keep him from winning, he'd pitch a fit. Have you ever _seen_Kyuubi pitch a fit? It's like detonating a thermonuclear warhead." The demon shook his horned head. "Any other ideas?"

"_We could make round 3 a team battle round, and pair up Kyuubi with somebody weak – or better yet, somebody he can't get along with."_This suggestion came from a large, purple, remotely feline creature that was trying in vain to get comfortable in a chair designed for people with no tails. Mewtwo had first given Death by Chocolate the idea to gather a team of people to help him control the tournament from behind the curtains. How? After viewing the other contestants, Mewtwo had promptly walked up to the demon and said, _"Nobody here is worthy of fighting my vast intellect. How about I help you control the fight, like I know you want to do?"_Death by Chocolate had agreed, wondering how Mewtwo had read his mind without having his higher consciousness torn asunder.

"That's not… actually, that's a good idea." Death by Chocolate mulled it over for a minute, stroking his chin with his pointed fingers. "Axel?"

"Team battles?" Axel looked at the ceiling for a few seconds as he leaned back in his swivel chair. "Sounds cool. Two-on-two, right?"

"_Indeed; that would be easiest to manage."_

"I think we may have a winner. What about you, Maggie?"

"Don't call me that, demon." Magneto, the self-proclaimed Mutant Master of Magnetism, sat at the end of the table opposite Death by Chocolate. Magneto had taken a… proactive approach to the tournament, challenging a very powerful opponent before the first round even began. Avatar Roku proved a little too much for him to handle, and he retreated in disgrace down the sewer pipes… that is, until a certain demonic host had intercepted his course and pulled him out, offering him a chance to help guide one of the other mutant contestants to victory. Although Magneto had gotten a chance to shower since then, he still hadn't gotten all the grime and stink off his armor, which (along with no other mutants on this little team) kept him in a foul mood.

Magneto originally intended for Wolverine's wayward son Daken to win the tournament. However, Daken and his sister, X23, had found out Death by Chocolate intended to fix the fights. DbC decided they knew too much, and trapped them in giant blocks of solid chocolate, which he displayed in the meeting room (Daken's face and open hands protruded slightly from the sheer sides of the block, completing the Star Wars homage). Wolverine was Magneto's next choice after he personally came looking for his kids as a last-minute entry, but Wolverine lost in the first round… to another mutant, a power thief who went by Sylar. After yelling at DbC for pitting two of the very few mutants in the tournament against each other, Magneto decided to instead try and help Sylar along. "Fine. Magneto. We're waiting."

"I think many of the most powerful contestants in the tournament would have horrible teamwork skills. It would be a massive equalizer." Magneto frowned. "And that's why it's a bad idea. We should give the prize to the most powerful contestant. If that's Kyuubi, who cares if he wins?"

"I'll tell you why I care who wins." Death by Chocolate began pacing. "The winner of this tournament, as you all remember, is granted a free wish. After all these repairs to the mall, I'm no longer sure if I'll have the power necessary to grant wishes. Somebody like Kyuubi… what can't he obtain himself that he would possibly wish for? I doubt I could grant it for him, and he'll probably attack me when I fail. And what's worse… if it's Kyuubi, my death is a very real possibility." He stopped pacing and locked eyes with the team he had assembled, one at a time; although his irises and pupils were barely visible through the yellow glow his eyes gave off, the effect was still strong. "Kyuubi no Kitsune must be stopped from winning this tournament, and he must think he lost under at least semi-fair circumstances. At all costs."

"Okay, here's an idea," Axel volunteered, absentmindedly munching on a shard of Death by Chocolate's arm that had skidded over to his part of the table earlier. "Send him to fight against Roku. They'll tear each other apart."

"That's just why I can't do that. Those two will probably destroy everything within miles when they fight. I have to put that off until the final round."

"Maybe if you have them team up, they'll drag each other down and lose the fight."

"Better, but if they lose, they could start fighting each other right there, which is the same problem. Better to keep them away from each other."

"Pair Kyuubi up with Orochimaru," Magneto said suddenly, drawing eyes to himself. He smiled and continued. "Kyuubi and Orochimaru have their own little side competition going on; they know and respect each other. Giving him a favorable partner will assuage any suspicions he might be developing, which could help later on. Pair Roku and Sylar up as well, they have enough raw power to possibly take Kyuubi and win fairly, and we need them to stay in the running. Besides, since Kyuubi and Orochimaru are competing on who can keep from killing their opponents longer, if they're right next to each other, they'll feel more restraint."

"_Magneto's idea is sound. I agree,"_Mewtwo added helpfully.

"Why doesn't anybody listen to my ideas?" Axel complained.

"Because you're not special. Actually, it's because Mewtwo's a genius, and Magneto and I each have decades of villainy and manipulation under our belts (centuries, in my case). Okay, let's decide who else to pair up. Axel, any ideas for your Organization friends?"

Axel grinned again. "Pair Vexen up with that little orange beastie, the one with the hidden second head. And pair Marluxia up with Cougar." Blank stares all around the table. "The metal claws guy who heals?"

"Oh, you mean Wolverine," Magneto sighed.

"Good ideas. They'll both hate that." Death by Chocolate nodded to himself. "This is just because you hate them, right?"

"Mostly, but it'll… er… test their worth as Organization XIII members."

"Fair enough. Okay, now, who else?" Death by Chocolate said, looking around the table. They spent the night drawing up sinister plans and laughing evilly. Soon, the manager came back with the cocoa. Death by Chocolate took a long draught, spat it out in his pointy-haired cohort's face, magically enlarged his own chocolate head to twice the size of his body, and screamed at the poor man, "**YOU MADE IT WRONG!**" The manager collapsed into the fetal position, eliciting a fresh wave of maniacal laughter around the table.

**End of Chapter**

**Please excuse any shaky characterization, especially on Axel's part. All my information on him is secondhand. Magneto has several canon versions with all kinds of little personality differences, and Mewtwo and Kyuubi simply don't have well-defined characters.**

**There could easily be more 'behind the scenes' chapters. And yes, the mall is repaired now and repairs itself after every other round because I said so. It's canon now.**


	3. Behind the Scenes, Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters within, except for Death by Chocolate.**

**Here's the second Behind the Scenes chapter, taking place after Round 3, just before Round 4 gets underway.** **I hope I got Kirei, Gilgamesh, Axel, and Daken right. I don't know them too well. As a side note, this chapter gets a little... violent. Just warning you guys.**

**A Winner Is You: Behind The Scenes**

**Chapter 2: The Thrill of the Hunt**

Death by Chocolate frowned. He stood at the middle of the aquarium stadium; broken glass, hardly recognizable in its original shape as a gigantic beveled seashell, covered the area around him in so much glittering destruction. Destruction in and of itself wasn't so displeasing, but when he was expected to clean it up, it lost some of the thrill. His eyes, yellow as lemon wedges, darted about in their sockets. "And this is what I get from the man I want to win."

"I have no doubt in my mind that you can get this cleaned up easily, sir," the pointy-haired manager said with a clueless smile that returned to his face whenever DbC stopped making his life hell on Earth for a few moments.

"You have no mind to doubt with," Death by Chocolate casually replied. "And the damage gets worse. What did you guys need a mile-wide aquarium for, anyway? Don't answer that."

"So, let me make sure I've got this straight," Axel interjected as he casually reclined on the twisted steel wreckage of a lifeguard tower, playing with his spiky red hair absentmindedly. "Our objective is to make sure that the winner is somebody who lacks either the power or the will to kill you if you can't grant their wish, right? So anybody but Kyuubi of the last four."

"Right. I don't think Roku would kill me if he could, although I'm not sure. I _am _a demon, after all. Either way, we're about evenly matched. Sylar probably just wants to saw open the heads of all the superpowered people here; I can give him that much, and he doesn't have the combat sense to take me on anyway. Orochimaru's a tough cookie, but I don't think he's quite tough enough to take me, and he may just want a few scrolls of ninjutsu that human eyes have never beheld. So the only real issue is Kyuubi, but I'd say he's the strongest of the four."

"You have yourself a demon problem." They looked around for the source of the exhausted-sounding voice. An older man walked into view, having climbed onto the edge of the arena to approach Death by Chocolate. "And whenever people have demon problems, they call an exorcist, yes?" He was now close enough that Death and the others could study him. He had dark grey hair and a face that suggested middle age, or possibly somebody who was becoming old before his time. He was lean, with a black shirt and blue jacket, and a glint of gold below his collar – a small cross. "I'm Kirei Kotomine, and I think I can help you."

"You're a priest," Axel noted, "and yet you're here to help a demon?"

"To deal with another demon, yes," the man said with a small frown. "I have extensive experience in the fields of the evil and supernatural both."

"That's quite the offer," Death by Chocolate chuckled. "What's the catch?"

"A spirit named Gilgamesh is threatening Lancer's life," Kirei explained. "I need Lancer to leave this tournament intact. I own him, you see. In addition, I would like access to the more in-depth view of the tournament that you and yours enjoy."

"Easy enough," Death nodded. "I was just going to go deal with Gilgamesh anyway. _Mewtwo!_"

With a crack, Mewtwo appeared at DbC's side. _"What is it?"_ he asked, annoyed, but his expression changed to curiosity when he noticed Kirei.

"Mewtwo," the fudgy fiend spoke, "Wolfwood and the artificial creature were unable to defeat Kyuubi, even with you to help out by playing false God. Do you think, working in the shadows, this mysterious, less scrupulous priest could do any better?"

Mewtwo understood what Death by Chocolate was asking. _"Kirei Kotomine, a man of both the clergy and the Mage's Guild of his homeland. Strongly connected with a tainted holy grail. He was born human, but… not entirely anymore. He's almost closer to what Axel is."_

Kirei's scowl deepened. "Please stop reading my mind."

Death laughed. "And he's sharp! Kirei, you're hired. Don't disappoint me."

Magneto floated in. "The first fight, between those two pirates, has started."

"Excellent," DbC said with a nod. "I've got a plan. Kirei, you're with me. Magneto, you too, but stay out of sight. Mewtwo, step in if anybody is going to die out there. I can't always make sure Stitch is on the scene. Axel, get that data from Vexen's lab as soon as he leaves it unguarded, then report back to me. Doughy…" he addressed the pointy-haired executive. "Make sure the VIP room is locked, and then get me a chocolate milkshake."

"From where, sir?"

"You're finally learning. Haagen-Dazs."

--

"Gilgamesh," Death by Chocolate called out. He stood in the basement, with Kirei glowering at his side. "I know you're here, O ancient hero-king. GET THE HELL OUT HERE!"

"You don't have to shout," Gilgamesh replied with a smirk as he appeared a dozen feet from the demon, a wall of swords behind him. "I can hear you just fine."

"Yeah, wipe that smirk off your face," Death growled. "I've got enough trouble without you wrapping my contestants up in this crap. Lancer can't even be more than the fourth or fifth guy down on your Kill Bill list. So I'm afraid you'll have to pack up your Noble Whatevers and leave the premises before I call security." A large sword made of solid chocolate formed in the demon's hand. "Because, you see, I am security."

"Does this really matter to you?" Gilgamesh asked, his golden armor gleaming even in the dark of the basement. Death by Chocolate (and his sword) could be seen reflected in it. "I mean, you can't hardly deal with Kyuubi right now, and he can't even fight his way out of a paper bag-"

"-Or a little boy," Death by Chocolate finished. "Yes, ha ha ha, it's funny joke, but the thing is _it isn't true_. You could wind up dead if you're still here at the end of the show. But the thing is, you won't be, because you were just leaving, right?" He raised the sword, and it got even bigger.

"This isn't your place, Gilgamesh," Kirei added.

Gilgamesh noticed Kirei for the first time, and his eyes widened briefly before narrowing as his smirk left him. "Fine, I'll take my leave for now. But you'll regret this, Death by Chocolate," he vowed as he vanished. "And I'm not saying vaguely in the future, either. You'll regret this immediately!" His last word echoed vaguely around the cavernous room a few times before fading away as well.

"Dick," Death muttered.

"Well, that was irritating," Kirei sighed. "Shall we go? I'm eager to grab some food and watch the fights." He had walked most of the way to the elevator before he turned, noticing that Death By Chocolate stood rooted to the spot, immobile. "Are you coming? Mr. by Chocolate?… hello?"

"God… DAMMIT!" Death by Chocolate swore. "He hasn't left the building!"

"What?"

"Gilgamesh… didn't… leave…" DbC snarled as he ran towards the elevator. "Come on! We need to get to the VIP room!"

--

"Well, shit." Death by Chocolate, Magneto, and Kirei stared down at the grisly scene in front of them. The long table was smashed to smithereens. One door was torn off its hinges. The one-way glass was cracked in a few places where tasteful potted plants had been hurled at it. The pointy-haired manager lay askew on the floor, papers scattered around him, with a chunk of mahogany pinning a leg to the ground. His breathing was shallow and uneven, and he clutched at a rather deep abdominal wound with both hands. It was evident he had already lost a substantial amount of blood.

Kirei knelt down beside the injured pencil-pusher. "What happened here?" he asked sternly.

"Hey guys," he wheezed with a smile. "I kept the papers in order. I may have bled on them a bit, though…"

Death easily pulled the piece of table off the manager and angrily hurled it away. "Who did this to you?" he asked coldly.

"Some see-thru guy in golden armor came," the manager coughed. "He drew a sword and busted out those two punks with the claws, and then vanished. Anyway, that young guy didn't like me very much, so he stabbed me. They just left, the girl said they were heading for the monorail."

"DAMMIT!" the semisweet scourge screamed.

"You called?" Axel asked, appearing in a burst of flames with a flash drive twirling round his finger. "Here's the info, by the-" Death by Chocolate slapped it away.

"You! Those two mutant kids escaped. Make sure no contestants bumped into them." He turned to Kirei. "Get him to the hospital. I'm not allowed to let him die. Magneto, cut them off at the monorail." He ran out the door as fast as legs made of unholy confectionary would carry him (surprisingly fast). Soon, Death heard voices in the halls and homed in on them.

"…Should retreat… now," X23 finished.

"And _I_ say… back there and kick his ass back to hell!" Daken countered.

"He captured us both last time!"

"He got the drop on us last time!"

"All I'm saying is we should get some distance so we can analyze our foe!" As Death by Chocolate turned the corner and they came into view of them, he began generating a long tube of chocolate between his hands. X23 sniffed and turned around. "Damn, there he is!"

"No more mistakes," Death by Chocolate announced, hoisting up the new RPG launcher he had shaped. "This time, I'm _terminating _you two!" Planting it on his shoulder, he fired, and a chocolate rocket whistled down the hall.

"By the kami!" Daken shouted as he and X23 dove into a side hall, dodging the rocket. DbC growled and followed them, reshaping the empty tube so that it was loaded again. In the next hall, he found X23 smashing her hand through a glass panel bearing the words "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, COMMIT WAR CRIME". She pulled out a twelve-gauge shotgun and primed it, the cuts on her hand healing already. "What are you doing?" Daken asked as he ran. "If you want to fight, use your claws!"

"Sometimes it's better to fight from range," X23 countered. As DbC placed the launcher on his shoulder again, she blasted him with the shotgun. He was thrown nearly off his feet and fired the rocket straight into the ceiling, causing several hundred pounds of plaster to collapse on top of him and sending a cloud of white dust rushing past the two unorthodox progeny of Wolverine. "See?"

"Point taken. LET'S GO!" The pair ran off. Several seconds later, a thick brown liquid oozed and bubbled out of the collapsed section of the building, leaving stains on the concrete. The liquid chocolate resolidified into a familiar yellow-eyed chocolate demon, who angrily picked a few pieces of plaster out of his reformed face, spat out some buckshot fragments, and ran in the direction they had.

--

The two had made it to the monorail platform, and found one of the vehicles empty and apparently in good repair. "And we are out of here," Daken growled, pressing a button on the platform to open the doors. He was tan, with a Mohawk and stubble, but had a somewhat Oriental appearance. He wore black pants, leaving his chest, heavily tattooed back, and arms bare, and sandals. "Are you sure we shouldn't just go finish him off?"

"He's too much of an unknown factor," X23 argued. She was younger-looking, maybe fourteen or fifteen, unlike her 'brother' who appeared to be in his early twenties (but certainly wasn't). She had a slightly darker complexion and brown hair, and wore a black bodysuit with brown patches that covered her to the neck. It was actually fairly similar to what Snake wore to the tournament. "We don't know the extent of his powers, and we don't know if he's working al_oooooooooone!_" She was suddenly jerked backwards and suspended in midair, coming upside-down face to face with an older man with a solemn face, decked out in purple and red armor featuring a helmet and red cape. "You're-"

"On bad terms with your father," Magneto finished, casually twirling X23 away from himself and suspending her in midair like a rag doll. Daken roared and charged the mutant; Magneto casually reached towards Daken, but blinked when nothing happened. "No adamantium?" Daken was fast - superhumanly fast, and Magneto didn't have time to prepare an alternate method of defense before it was too late. The son of Wolverine extended a set of bone claws - two from the back of his wrist, and one from the underside, and slashed at Magneto's ribs. The armor blocked most of the blow, but Daken pierced through far enough to draw blood under Magneto's left arm.

"Ahh!" The master of magnetism, unable to levitate his opponent, took to the air himself instead, catching X23 before she hit the ground and maintaining his hold on her. With his other hand, he wrenched an aluminum bench free from the concrete. "No matter. I can capture you another way!"

"I don't think so, old man!" Daken leapt into the air, his claws pulled back. His leap carried him higher than Magneto had expected, not only dodging the bench but carrying him the twenty feet up to his foe. "DIE!" Daken plunged the claws forward, intent on perforating Magneto's face; the older mutant managed to block by tilting his head forward and shielding his skull with his helmet. All the same, the helmet rang like a gong and the impact sent the dazed Magneto spiraling to the ground and dropped X23 like a ton of bricks.

"OW!" X23 landed hard on her back. Daken ran for the monorail doors; no hand up was offered, and none was expected. X23 decided she didn't have time to kill Magneto when she saw Death by Chocolate turn the corner onto the platform, and instead dashed onto the monorail.

Death by Chocolate ran for the monorail, but it accelerated out of the platform as soon as he got close. "I knew just having START and EMERGENCY BRAKE buttons on those monorails was making them too simple," he muttered. "You alright, Magneto?"

"I'll live," Magneto muttered. "I might be concussed, though."

"I'll have to fly after them," the demon sighed. "Catch up when you can."

"I didn't know you could fly."

"I can, but it's not easy for me." Death by Chocolate ran for the edge of the platform, his fingers stretching as webbing formed between them. "Flying slow is tiring, and flying fast is painful!" He leapt off the platform, flapping desperately with the huge pair of bat wings he had shapeshifted his arms into. Then, when he began to fall, he angled his feet backwards and held them together. Then his feet _exploded_, rocketing him forward and leaving a burnt trail. Soon he was only a few dozen feet behind the train, but he stopped gaining on it, and even started to fall behind. "Time for the afterburner!" DbC detonated his lower legs in the same fashion he had with his feet, launching him into the back of the monorail and through its opening back door.

--

"So…" X23 mumbled, "I hear you're Logan's son."

"Correct," Daken responded in a curt military tone. "Wolverine is my father, although I don't think of him as such."

"I thought he never married."

"He did, a long time ago but his new wife was killed. I was ripped from her womb, and my healing factor allowed me to finish growing as a test tube baby."

"I would say that's disgusting, but I'm a modified clone of him, and the details are probably nearly as grisly."

Daken inhaled deeply, and his head shot up. "Do you smell that?" he snarled.

X23 sniffed the air, then primed the shotgun again and walked to the back door/emergency exit. "Bittersweet chocolate… and a hint of brimstone." She kicked open the door, and gasped. "Get down!" she yelled, doing just that. Daken didn't have the chance, and had to flatten himself into the seat instead as a screaming demonic giant chocolate bat exploded into the monorail car and splattered against the far wall. As it began pulling itself back into a cohesive shape, X23 brought up the shotgun. "I guess you'll get your chance to fight after all."

"I suppose I will," Daken agreed, drawing both sets of claws and crouching on the seat.

Death by Chocolate solidified, his legs whole again, and X23 immediately fired a round of buckshot into his chest. However, this time he braced himself against the impact, and in the space of time it took X23 to prime it (she wasn't exactly an expert with the weapon), he leaped across the room and grabbed the barrel, pointing it away from himself. "That's enough of that," he hissed, driving his right fist into her nose as he pulled the weapon away with his left and sent it flying out a plexiglass window. She staggered, but remained upright from the strong blow, and Death's fist and forearm cracked from impact with her adamantium-reinforced face.

Before he could fix the cracks, Daken was upon him, kicking him into a pole used for balance by standing passengers and driving his three claws into Death by Chocolate's chest. "I was painfully aware of being trapped in the chocolate, you know!" Daken roared, eviscerating the demon with his other set of claws before twisting both and pulling them free. Unfortunately, what would be an instantly fatal, vitals-rending attack against, say, a human or a tiger, only managed to pull two cylinders of Grade-A chocolate from the demon's upper torso into Daken's confused hands.

Death by Chocolate lowered his head and pushed forward, burying both horns into the bottom of Daken's neck. "You two were out of your league then, and you still are! It's what you deserve!" He pushed Daken away, but X23 was immediately upon him, her own twin pairs of adamantium claws extended. He blocked the claws with his forearm (which they cut most of the way through), and conjured up a mace in his free hand. He smashed her in the gut with it, knocking her back, and spun in a circle, swinging it. She caught it on one set of claws, and popped an extra claw from the toe of her boot, kicking and slicing across his still-reforming chest. Death returned the favor, lifting his leg and delivering a volley of swift kicks. X23 parried them all with her adamantium-reinforced arm, but during the fifth and final kick DbC's leg suddenly transformed into a sharp spike and telescoped, pushing X23 back to a wall and punching between the bones of her forearm into her chest to glance off her sternum. "Ha!"

Suddenly Daken was back, kicking at Death by Chocolate's impossibly long leg and easily snapping it. Growling, Death regrew his normal leg and took a stance with his mace, the wounds on his chest now nothing more than a memory. "I will send you back to Hell!" Daken yelled, springing forward. Death began swinging at him with the mace, but Daken swiftly weaved around, outside, and under the blows, scoring light slashes here and there. "What's the matter? Not as agile as a trained mutant?" Daken asked, dragging his claws across Death's thighs.

_If I can't match his speed, I have no chance against Kyuubi,_ Death thought, not in despair, but in determination. With a sudden surge of speed, he brought his bludgeon down on the mutant's skull, half-destroying his weapon and stunning Daken. When Death by Chocolate swung the weapon back up, it was no longer a mace but a battle-axe, and he buried it in Daken's brow, sending him sprawling into a seat.

X23 was back on him again. "Fighting you two this way will get me nowhere," he sighed, creating a saber this time and swinging it wildly, keeping her far enough back that her shorter arms and blades put her at a disadvantage.

It didn't take her long to find an opening. She jumped diagonally towards him, kicking off a wall to plunge her claws into the side of his head. Totally unfazed, he dragged his face free as he slammed the blade of his saber into her ribcage and shoved her away. "Fighting you with claws doesn't seem to get us anywhere either."

"Yeah," he laughed. He threw the saber, slicing Daken's face as he got up and knocking him back down again, and held his fists and forearms out in front of him. They bulked up and lost definition, becoming a vicious pair of studded bludgeons. "You guys are pretty well screwed, because I have no weak points. At all."

"We'll see about that!" X23 leapt forward again, kicking him 'below the belt' and sinking her claw in, but as usual, he ignored the stab wound and pounded her with his enhanced fist, knocking her into the closed door. Wasting no time, he pounced on her and began pummeling her, raining blows down as hard as he could. X23's body didn't give, but the door did, and suddenly she was hanging half-out of the monorail car, with her legs kicking in open air. The monorail was circling the mall's wheel-like outer boundaries in excess of a hundred miles per hour, and it was connected to the sixth floor. If she was thrown free, she would freefall the seventy feet to the concrete below, not a pleasant prospect even for her. "Okay, this is going poorly," she muttered darkly.

"On the contrary," Death by Chocolate laughed, a pistol forming in his hand even as his arms changed back from gorilla-esque to their normal clawed, chocolatey, but otherwise humanoid shape. "Actually, this gun could be bigger." In the space of a second, more chocolate was added, and it was a hand-cannon. "Better." He aimed carefully at X23's forehead, and brown light began to emanate from the chamber. "Say when."

"Fuck you!" In response, Death fired the gun, creating a fiery conflagration. Before the smoke cleared, she leapt at him, the skin on her face still reforming, and began attacking him mercilessly. This time she kept her claws retracted, simply brawling, using her artificially high-density body to smash his brittle flesh and keep him off-balance. Daken, himself now recovered, got the hint and began pummeling the demon as well.

"I've had about **enough of this!**" Death's entire body suddenly sprouted thick, long spikes, forcing both of them back. He pulled the quills back before whipping out a pair of sub-machine guns, creating them even as he pulled his arms into position to shoot, and buried them both under a hail of fire. This only succeeded in forcing them a few yards farther towards the front of the car, but it was all the space Death needed. He telescoped out both arms much as he had with his leg earlier, slipping the points between X23's forearms and pinning her back against the metal wall. She screamed and started to struggle, but Death pulled most of his arms back, leaving her nailed to the wall. Shrugging, he slammed his arms forward again, creating a 'W'-shaped piece of chocolate to bind her legs to the wall as well. "Crucifixion is always more fun than people make of it," he laughed.

"You're scum!" Daken launched himself forward, reaching Death by Chocolate before he could pull his arms back. However, Death simply raised one leg and turned it into an elongated spike again, driving it into Daken's left kneecap and causing the mutant to fall forward as he attacked, slashing deep lines down DbC's torso.

The demon frowned and picked Daken up by his mohawk. "Open wide," he said with a laugh. Daken instantly recognized something was not kosher with his request, and clamped his mouth and eyes shut. "Fine, I'll force my way in. This will hurt more, though." Death by Chocolate transformed one finger into a short blade, and slit the mutant's throat, pulling his head back to widen the cut. Before it could heal closed, the demon shoved his hand, then his entire arm into Daken's neck, before melting and flowing entirely into his foe's body.

"Ergh… UGHHHH!" Daken began convulsing on the floor, struggling with this most unholy invasion of his body. Fluids that should have remained inside him began pouring out of his ears and nose. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the blood flow and the seizure both slowed and came to a stop.

"HOLY SHIT! Are you okay?" X23 asked, pulling her body painfully against the chocolate restraints. She couldn't get any leverage, and they didn't budge. _What a stupid question… a demon just force-fed itself to him via jugular vein. Of course he isn't alright._

"I'm fine," Daken grunted as he forced himself to his feet. "I just… AH! I CAN'T SEE!" he frantically began clawing at his eyes, turning to X23. "I can't see!" he repeated frantically. "What's wrong?"

"I dunno!" she yelled. "Your eyes look fine to me, maybe a bit bugged out! Calm down and help me free so I can help you out!"

"I can't see, I can't see! AHH!" Finally Daken dug his bare hands into his own face and pulled his eyes out in what even X23 found to be a truly stomach-turning display. Then he looked up at X23. "Ah, much better." Death by Chocolate's glaring yellow eyes now occupied Daken's sockets. He began to laugh, the mutant assassin's voice fading into that of the demon's. "Surprise!" he laughed.

"You… you horrible bastard," X23 stuttered. She had seen some pretty horrible shit for a teenage girl, but this was a little beyond that.

"Okay, so I'm a little more physical about demonic possession," DbC chuckled. "So what?" he leaned in, face-to-face with X23. She could smell his breath; equal parts blood and chocolate. "It's not like it would hurt him any less with any other demon. Now…" Daken's claws popped out on both hands. "I think it's time I get to work, because this might take a while."

--

"Sorry I'm late," Magneto announced as he came in for a landing through the open back door of the car. "The monorail moves very fast, and I had to wait for it to come around again. How are you…" he trailed off in shock, staring at the sight before him. Daken, blood pouring down his face, eyes gouged out and replaced with a sickly yellow glow, slashed a semiconscious, crucified X23 across the throat. A bit of blood poured out, then the wound closed up… and her 'brother' slashed it open again. "What in the name of God is going on here?"

"Nothing," the demon casually responded. "There's a whole lot going on in the name of somebody else entirely, though."

"Good LORD, Death, are you possessing him?"

"At this point I'm actually _wearing _him. You see, my body is mostly in the space previously occupied by his brain, with 'threads' of liquid chocolate throughout his body so I can puppet-master him from the inside out. It's a very neoDemonic concept, you wouldn't understand it." He laughed. "Most bodies just decay when this happens, but he's still more or less alive. That's the sick part."

"And the girl?"

"I couldn't figure out any quick way to kill her. I can't just do this to her because the adamantium gets in the way and makes it very difficult. Right now I'm just slowly draining her blood."

"That's indescribably cruel!"

DbC merely snorted. "Yeah… but like I said, no alternatives."

"I'm really going to have to put my foot down here, and say we should let her live," Magneto said, tearing the entire section of monorail she was nailed to free and holding it out of the demon's reach. "She's a mutant… this really doesn't sit right with me."

"_Fiiine_," Death by Chocolate conceded, rolling his eyes. His irises were hard to see, so it went unnoticed by Magneto. "But Daken dies."

Magneto sighed. "Agreed. You've probably destroyed more brain tissue than he can regrow anyway."

"Take her somewhere far away from here, where she won't annoy me, and be back by nightfall." Death by Chocolate walked over to the 'Stop at next exit' button on the front wall and pressed it, causing the monorail to begin to slow. "I've got to go… oversee things." Daken's body promptly swelled up like a balloon until it burst in a shower of gore that spattered Magneto and X23; in an instant, the demon's body was fully reformed in his place (although slick and red with blood). "You know, I'm in a really good mood now! That fight was just what I needed. I'm not going to even hold it against old Gil." He turned around, but Magneto had already left, and Axel had appeared in his place. "Yes?" he asked with a genuine, but no less threatening smile.

"Damage control went well. You'll need to provide an explanation why the monorail was down and sustained all this damage, but nobody saw X23 or Daken, except for Deadpool. And nobody believes Deadpool. Kirei's been really useful; he's not an almost-contestant, so his working for you doesn't raise any eyebrows except Lancer's. I, on the other hand, would raise a whole bunch of eyebrows."

"Your hair alone raises plenty of eyebrows," Death chuckled, wiping his feet when he noticed he was leaving bloody footprints on the tile. "Say, Axel, have you ever crucified an opponent? It's really fun."

**End of Chapter**

**Yeah, maybe I should change the rating? Anyway, if you're wondering what was on the flash drive, it's just information on the contestants. Death and his cronies don't have the equipment or the patience to run advanced scans for information on all the contestants. Vexen does it anyway, so DbC just has Axel copy his data whenever he isn't looking. Axel knows all Vexen's passwords, I'm sure.**

**Kirei was added to the cast at suggestion of Aelsthla-Mental, but I think he fits. Assuming I'm writing him correctly.**

**As for Death beating X23 and Daken 2-on-1, yes, he's powerful (he is a demon - and a patron spirit of something), but it was also a good matchup for him. Nonmagical blades just aren't a very good weapon against things that can change from solid to liquid and back. Heat and cold are much more effective, along with anything enchanted to deal with demons. Otherwise, you just have to keep going until he runs out of stamina to regenerate... and that could take a _long_ time.**


	4. Behind the Scenes, Part 3

**Alright, so here's the final 'Behind the Scenes' chapter. Enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Death by Chocolate and the contents of this story. I do not own any of the other characters within.**

**A Winner is You! Behind the Scenes**

**Chapter 3**

"Alright, hold it right there!" Axel yelled, throwing his chakram. It struck the large crack separating the large column from the ceiling and rolled down the line, fusing the structure back together and leaving a glowing orange line. The chakram then circled around back for him to catch, and he twirled it in his finger. "You spin me right round baby right round," he softly sang as Mewtwo levitated another broken pillar into place. "Like a record baby right round right round."

_"Ugh…"_ the cat Pokemon replied. _"Hate that song. Dance ruined techno music."_ He pointed to a scorched palm tree, and muttered, _"Growth. Natural Cure."_ The bark instantly began to heal on the tree, and the leaves began to multiply and regain their lush greenness.

"Are you crazy?!" Axel asked, burning away some debris he judged to be beyond the point of saving. "Dance music rocks! It's the best thing since Beethoven!"

_"Beethoven's over-hyped! Mozart is the king of classical!"_

"Oh no you didn't!" Axel replied angrily, approaching Mewtwo with his chakram still in hand.

"**'Ello, gentlemen. Enjoying your evenin'?**" A dark figure landed between the two, a sword held menacingly in each hand. Mewtwo levitated a park bench to use as a weapon, until he recognized the speaker.

_"Deadpool? What the hell are you doing out at this time of night? There's a curfew, you know."_

"**The current author said that since this literary form doesn't support yellow word balloons, I could instead have all boldface text and occasionally speak in sentences where every alternate word begins with the same letter. Thought I'd try it tonight. Are your eyes bleeding yet?"**

Mewtwo ignored a strong desire to roll around on the floor, frothing at the mouth, and curl up in the fetal position for a year. _"What else?"_

**"Ima gonna spy on Deathy McCocoa; figure out who my last round opponent will be. I'll settle your debate if you'll let me pass?"**

"What do you think, Mewtwo? I'd say he's as impartial as anybody," Axel said, stretching casually.

_"Yes, he's impartial in the same way that a paint huffer is impartial. But fine… let's HEAR your BRILLIANT and IMPARTIAL opinion."_

**"Baroque music is better than classical music… and you're both ugly and boring. See ya."** Deadpool teleported away.

_"Well, that was predictable." _The psychic cat Pokemon sighed and gave Axel a sidelong glance. _"Should we go find him?"_

"We _could…_" Axel chuckled. "Or we could finish up with this cleanup and then pretend that whole conversation never happened. And I'll buy you some catnip."

Mewtwo was silent for a while, simply working his near-limitless psychic powers to restore the cracked plaster around them. Then, _"Make it a martini instead."_

--

Death By Chocolate sighed, stacking the fallen I-beam with the others. He had simply run out of favors to call in, and tonight even he had to do some of the grunt work in mall reconstruction. Magneto was repairing the monorail, theme park, and surrounding areas, since those had the most metal; Axel and Mewtwo were working the outer 'spokes' of the mall. Kirei and the pointy-haired boss had turned in for the night, and most of the minor demons Death had summoned had to be sent to repair the space needle (why did they even have towers? Sure, they looked stupid on a wheel-shaped mall. But despite the designers' protests, the board of directors insisted on having everything together in this one giant building). Consequentially, Death by Chocolate was working alone for the moment.

"Let's see… how can I write some of this off?" he said aloud to himself, really just passing the time. "Can I classify Roku as a force of nature? Or Kyuubi? Or even Marluxia? Does 'acts of God' cover Wolfwood? The mall has mad science insurance… that covers Vexen, but how much of the damage dealt by the Experiments does it cover? Vincent brought an _airship_ through the roof last round… can I charge him for that?"

As he clambered over a large fountain, sealing holes in it with chocolate, he snarled. Vincent's last battle had ended with Solid Snake being crippled, and having to withdraw from the tournament. He'd need to pay for a double leg transplant for Snake (he'd been assured that where Snake came from, not only was a double leg transplant possible, but his dead brother Liquid had two perfectly serviceable legs just lying around, waiting to be grafted on). Not only was this expensive for the tournament, but it left them with an odd number of contestants for the final round.

"Great, just great." Death looked at the head of the fountain's statue, which had fallen off. Chocolate wouldn't be enough to glue it back together. Death picked up the head, uttered a short incantation, and slid his finger along the broken surfaces. His finger left a thin trail of caramel, which acted as a powerful adhesive when he stuck the head back on. He'd had to act in secret earlier that night, taking drastic measures to 'remove' another contestant so that there wouldn't be a bye in the last round.

"Well, tomorrow will be better." Death leapt lightly off the statue, his work done for the night. Some Heartless would be coming to finish repairing the damage.

"**Not so fast, Death by Chocolate! Ooh, that's got a really nice ring to it…"**

"You." DbC didn't turn around so much as his face inverted itself and poked out the back of his head. "What are you doing up so late? You need your sleep, or Sylar will tear you asunder tomorrow."

"**Ha! I already have a Sunder! It weighs 85 tons and I've decked it out in Clan weaponry! …Wait, don't act like nothing's up! I know your brilliant plan and stuff!"**

"Oh, really? What am I planning?"

"…**Alright, I don't know."**

"If you're that curious, right now my schemes are centered around staying _alive._ I don't think it's really that evil of me, so if you could just scuttle off to wherever you've been sleeping, that'd be great, thanks."

"**You may be able to fool a sane person, but you can't fool me! I saw what you did to Scorpion!"**

This was enough to rate DbC's full attention, and he turned around entirely. "Did you now?"

"**Yeah! And I'm going to prove it to the readers… with this flashback…"**

_Deadpool brand flashbacks -- Deadpool brand flashbacks_

"**Wee… all the blood's rushing to my head."** The Mad Merc hung from a high chandelier by nails driven into his feet, where Wolverine had suspended him as revenge for making him surrender the previous round. Wolvie had also taken his teleportation device and glued it to a different part of the chandelier, just out of 'Pool's reach. **"I wonder if I can make my blood leak out my mask without impaling himself…myself? I'm not even sure anymore."** He looked down at Scorpion, who had chosen for some reason to spend the night meditating right under him (maybe that's where the Murder Feng Shui was best?), and considered bothering him for the hundredth time. It was then that he saw the demon.

Death by Chocolate had quietly entered the vicinity of the chandelier and Scorpion's meditation spot, a spot which usually displayed a new model of luxury Sedan (which had been wrecked by a Metal Gear earlier on, and hadn't yet been replaced). If you looked at the delicious dastard in the eye after he stopped walking, he would have looked completely still. However, Deadpool's elevated point of view allowed him to see what was really going on: chocolate was spreading out from Death's feet, flattening itself to the floor, surrounding Scorpion in a complicated system of concentric circles, runes, and pentagrams. Scorpion, white eyes closed, appeared unaware this was happening – that is, until he said, "Why are you doing this?"

"Well…" Death said as the brown designs began to glow. He finally shrugged. "I'm banishing you."

"I know _that,_" the hellspawn snapped, his eyes flicking open to glare. "I asked why. You know you're sentencing my return to hell, don't you? Destroying my dreams?"

"I know all about that. Trust me, my only dream in life is to stay out of hell myself. But I'm afraid I have to send you back. There are an odd number of contestants. My employers wouldn't tolerate a pass for the last match, but neither do they allow me to touch a single hair on the heads of the contestants. And I'm no good at coercion, you see, which leads me to you. Nobody will miss you, Scorpion. You're a tremendous letdown. All that power, and you've lost again and again. You've even let Sylar take your abilities. And most importantly, you're a contestant I can get rid of without touching."

"But can you get rid of me without me touching _you_?" Scorpion leapt to his feet, and his whole body tensed, but nothing happened. "What?!"

"It's an oblivion banishment ring. You can't teleport out of it," the demon explained. The glow of the chocolate had reached a fever pitch. "Scorpion, on my authority as a patron demon, you are-"

"RAH!" Scorpion threw a fireball at Death by Chocolate.

"…_banished._" The hellspawn and fireball both disappeared as if they had been just a dream. Death blinked, and the chocolate ceased glowing and seeped into the cracks beneath the floor tiles, disappearing from sight. "That poor bastard." He turned. "Oh well, more cleaning to do."

_Deadpool brand flashbacks -- Deadpool brand flashbacks_

**"And THAT, dear Watson, is exactly how it happened."**

"That's not true. I didn't blink."

**"You're splitting hairs – or skulls, or whatever it is demons split. I know you're up to more than just trying to survive that holocaust fox! So what is it?"**

"Do you really want to know? It's so devious, it could drive you sane."

**"YES! Explain to me your Xanatos Gambit!"**

Death gave a small smile. "Ha! Little do you know it's actually a Xanatos Roulette… and you're the Xanatos Sucker!"

**"BIG NO! I'm going to be your Xanatos Gilligan!"**

"You hope to create a Thirty Xanatos Pileup? Don't make me laugh! At best, you're a Psycho For Hire, and not even the most Ax Crazy one here! You know all too well I can have you Put On A Bus, or even Killed Off For Real if you're not careful, because I'm a Devil In Plain Sight and a Magnificent Bastard! Evil will triumph tomorrow because Good Is Dumb!"

**"But not the Ultimate Evil."**

"No, I'm just the Big Bad. If you're also after resealing that Evil In A Can, then I think we can work out an Enemy Mine situation."

**"Ha! Yeah, right!" **Deadpool turned to leave, walking away cockily. **"Don't underestimate me, Forces Of Hell! I'm an Ensemble Darkhorse with No Fourth Wall, infinite Hammerspace, a Bottomless Magazine, and Katanas Are Just Better! I Am Not Making This Up!" **He continued ranting until well out of Death's earshot.

"Well, that was interesting," the demon muttered. "At least it distracted him from actually asking what my evil plan was."

--

"Contestants, friends and family of contestants, honored audience members!" the pointy-haired man yelled into the microphone. The cheering in response was deafening in an indoors environment, even in one as expansive as the central hub of the mall. He grinned up at the crowd that packed six wide, circular balconies and most of the first floor. He was getting good at this. "Our most gracious host has a few words for you before we begin the tournament's final round!"

As Death walked up towards the raised platform, flanked by Mewtwo and Kirei, he whispered to Mewtwo, "When you first came to me, you thought nobody in this tournament was an opponent worth your attention. Do you still feel that way?"

Mewtwo didn't need any time at all to think. _"No. I'd be very glad to have a match with either of this tournament's finalists."_

Death took a slurp from his drink (a can of 'Shockolate'). "Perfect. Here's your last job: Whether Kyuubi wins or loses the final match, he'll probably end up out for chocolate, if you know what I mean. If he wins, I at least have to hear him out for his wish, but either way, your job is to engage him instead. Got it?"

_"Sounds entertaining."_

"This is a tournament. Everything's entertaining." Kirei said, as he and Mewtwo stopped, allowing Death up onto the podium alone. "For example, what's about to happen."

Death smiled as he took the stage. Kyuubi continued to be undefeated, and that had exactly one upside – it had finally convinced the mall's board of directors to declare a state of emergency on the tournament. That gave Death by Chocolate more control, including the ability to make a very interesting rules change. "Good morning, El Centro Del Mundo, and all of you people watching this at home right now! Are you ready for the last round, and the greatest fights yet?!" Even louder cheering. Kirei had to stop himself from reflexively clamping his hands to his ears.

"THAT'S FUCKING AWESOME!" Death continued in response to the cheers. "But first, I've got a bit of a rules change to announce! For the final round, the rule against killing your opponent… WILL BE LIFTED!" The cheering was the loudest yet. It actually largely died out in the contestants' part of the audience on the ground floor (although Sylar, 627 and some others cheered louder than ever, Kyuubi and Orochimaru smiled darkly, and Deadpool roared his approval while hoisting a poster reading 'BAN THE BOMB').

No, the cheering mostly came from the audience, and this brought a still bigger grin to DbC's chocoriffic face. These people couldn't care less about the contestants. They just wanted to see blood. It was the evil in human hearts that allowed demons to exist, and it nearly brought tears to the demon's yellow eyes to see that evil was alive and well.

The cheering began to die down, but Death wasn't ready to relinquish it just yet. "YEAH!" he screamed, one hand forming into a blade. "THREE CHEERS FOR KILLING!" He spun his clueless, pointy-haired assistant around, and before the man could say 'not in the budget', Death by Chocolate had impaled him through the chest, heart, and spine, as well as reopened the wounds inflicted by Daken. The manager went limp, and Death casually dropped him. "THREE CHEERS FOR KILLING!" he repeated, and as the manager watched the world grow dark, Death got them.

Hip hip hooray.

**End of Chapter**

**Yeah. I went there. Character death. By the way, catch any references you can; that's what they're in there for. Almost all the references are made by either Death by Chocolate or Deadpool (in fact, I think they all are). And for those of you competing, have a great final round, and keep your eye out for a new thread!**


	5. Chaos Round, Part 1

**Hello to all. It's been a while since the first tournament ended, but I've finally finished that Chaos Round entry I promised.**

**Well, not really. Actually, I decided to do it in two parts. Here's the first part, and the second part will come after I've finished an introductory chapter for A Winner Is Two! Anyway, I hope you enjoy. It's Death by Chocolate versus his suborninates (and Vexen and Marluxia, because Axel knew to bring backup).  
**

**A Winner Is You! Behind the Scenes  
**

**Chaos Round: Reap (the Rewards)**

Death by Chocolate frowned. He had been frowning a lot lately, something that didn't particularly please him and only caused him to frown further. He liked to smile more; it meant he was in a better mood, and besides, humans found it more alarming. An explosion shook the fountain he sat on as Deadpool sailed by him, and the corners of Death's mouth twitched before settling back into their more dour state. No, not enough.

He considered himself lucky to have survived the hellscape that was Kyuubi and Roku's final battle. Luckily, he had been given that key… BORED had some strange stuff up in space. That was what they seemed to spend so much of their budget on, building satellites and space stations to do this, that, and the other thing. DbC blamed the bald gentleman who acted like he was in charge; he seemed to have a particular affinity for it.

As Death by Chocolate slipped further into the serenity of his own thoughts, the situation slipped further into chaos. Roronoa Zoro clashed blades with Scorpion and Kurosaki Ichigo, relishing the rush he got from strong foes. They accidentally crossed into the line of fire that was the gunfight between Wolfwood, Snake and Valentine; Ichigo didn't dodge fast enough and he fell under a hail of bullets, only to struggle to his feet a moment later. Sylar struck out with his powers hungrily, alternating between the force of a hurricane and the precision of a scalpel as he attempted to pin down Monkey D. Luffy and his unusual abilities. Neji struggled to hold on as Orochimaru, looking to bring back a sinister 'consolation prize', let the young ninja tire himself out trying in vain to hold his own. Deadpool ran by with Leroy climbing on him and attacking, screaming, "It's devouring my head!" Inside, Massie casually shopped at a mall that wouldn't hold its grand opening until next week, trying to ignore the occasional rogue bullet or shuriken or laser blast passing through a plate glass window.

Death was aware that everything had suddenly become very quiet, and opened his eyes. Everybody had stopped – it wasn't a halt to time itself, rather that everybody was being prevented from moving a muscle. With some relief, he realized this wasn't the work of Kyuubi or indeed Roku – neither had stuck around, to his unending relief. No, the force at work here wasn't as evil as Kyuubi, nor as ancient as either – but it was altogether more unnatural, more… alien. "Hello, Mewtwo," Death responded brightly. "The tournament's been cancelled, but several of the prospective participants have chosen to partake in an unsanctioned battle. Would you care to join them?"

Mewtwo floated out of a hole in the universe that had suddenly torn itself in front of the demon. He looked irritated, and a little singed, and DbC noted with mounting concern that Magneto was with him. Worse was when a dark portal opened behind the fountain, and Axel exited from it, flanked not only by Marluxia and Vexen but by one Kotomine Kirei. "Stow it, will you?" Axel growled. "The gang's all here, DbC, and we remember everything. You can drop them, Mewtwo."

_"I'll let them go when I want to,"_ the genetically engineered Pokemon replied curtly, but he dropped his stasis field. The fights didn't resume, though, as all eyes were on the surrounded demon.

"How do you guys remember everything?" Death by Chocolate asked. "Tell me. I'm curious."

_"Organization XIII's members appear to be able to teleport outside time if necessary – a useful ability. I, of course, have the ability as well, and when I realized what you were going to do, after the battle was over, I pulled Magneto along for the trip. Axel, and Kirei, I confess I never trusted. Magneto may wear a helmet to prevent my telepathy, but he reliably acts in the interests of himself and other human mutants, so I brought him."_

"And your counterparts in this reality? There should be two of each of you now, because that machine only took care of me."

"Actually, yeah, I was looking for them," Axel muttered.

_"To prevent paradoxes and other complications, I cast them out of this reality when we arrived."_ Magneto, Kirei, Axel, Marluxia, and Vexen had the decency to look profoundly uncomfortable with this concept.

"So… you're here, you're out of the deleted possible future. What does it have to do with me?" He looked past them, and called to the would-be contestants, "You can feel free to keep fighting!" Deadpool flashed a thumbs-up and pulled out an aluminum bat, only to receive a full round of ammunition in the chest and head from Snake. The fighting soon erupted in full-force again.

"We lived through that nightmare, and we want our pay," Magneto said curtly.

Death snorted. "So what? Do you think I'm getting paid for this?"

"You wouldn't have been paid anyway; you were summoned for the task," Kirei countered. "It's not as if your summoners contracted us – you employed us directly for the duration of this tournament, and we expect a reward."

"It never happened." DbC stood up, his yellow eyes meeting each of theirs in turn. "No matter what you or I may remember, a wish has made it that the entire incident never happened. I don't have to pay you – in fact, I never even hired you. I suggest you all go home, take nice, hot showers, and write the whole thing off as a wash – I certainly will be, except for the shower part."

"That's hardly fair, now," Marluxia chided.

"Shut up, I wasn't even paying you. Why are you two even here?"

"Axel's compensation was going to Organization XIII in its entirety," Vexen explained stiffly.

"Oh. That's too bad. I know I had promised you guys some compensation, but I'm not paying you, and that's final."

"Unless…" Magneto began.

"Unless, that is, you intend on forcing me to help you." Death by Chocolate grinned maliciously and licked one of his fingers as their tips sharpened into points. "You're welcome to try, but I won't hold back."

Surprisingly, it was Kirei who struck first, his expression stern and collected. He lashed out with a fist, which Death dodged by tilting his head and upper body. Unperturbed, Kirei launched a flurry of blows to DbC's head. He dodged several – including one that required him to slide his neck along his shoulders in a wholly unnatural way – but the fifth or sixth attack was a palm strike that caught him almost full in the face, shattering one of his cheeks. The subsequent elbow strike entirely destroyed Death by Chocolate's lower jaw and sent him toppling back into the fountain, but the demon quickly resurfaced with a reformed face and a chocolate broadsword. Kirei had to jump back to avoid losing his head to a horizontal slash, as Mewtwo and Magneto floated back and flanked him. "You'll find we won't hold back either," Kirei replied.

"That's good," Death chuckled, stepping out of the fountain, only for Axel to suddenly dart in front of him, chakrams raised and ignited.

"Burn!" Axel yelled, spinning with the circular blades out. DbC was forced to jump backwards into the air to dodge Axel's attack, only to spy Vexen on the other side of the fountain. One hand was on his shield, and the other had a finger dipped in the fountain.

"Enjoy," Vexen said with a dark smile as the contents of the fountain suddenly exploded upwards in a spire of jagged ice. Desperate to avoid an intense-cold attack, DbC kicked out with his feet and detonated them, hurtling himself in the other direction.

"You'll find me harder to get a lock on than that!" DbC laughed. Then he turned around, and stopped laughing.

"Oh, really?" Marluxia, waiting to intercept his flight path, lashed out with his scythe and cut Death by Chocolate in half at the waist.

"Really." Death's severed legs and hips suddenly exploded as well, knocking Marluxia away; DbC rolled and came up on newly-reformed legs, with a revolver in his free hand. He fired several shots at Axel and Vexen, forcing the former to duck behind the fountain and the latter to raise his shield, as he ran towards the still-rising Marluxia. He didn't make it there before Kirei suddenly procured a pair of thin swords from seemingly nowhere and threw them at the demon. "Holy weapons, eh?" Death easily dodged them, but suddenly they began spinning and doubled back on him as Magneto took control of them. "HOSHIT!" This time, one caught the chocolate fiend on his shoulder, and the wound sizzled as it attempted to regenerate from the blessed sword.

"Thanks, Kirei," Magneto called. "These should be just what the doctor ordered." He sent the swords buzzing around the demon, cutting him to pieces. Desperately evading the weapons that were so caustic to him, Death by Chocolate took a few desperate shots at Magneto, a bullet whizzing past his head before the master of magnetism successfully severed his gun arm. "Why aren't you helping?" he asked Mewtwo sharply. "Not that we need it," he added as the demon screamed from the pain the swords caused.

_"Psych Up."_ Mewtwo's eyes flashed white. _"You'll need it, trust me. I'm boosting myself to full power while you have the situation under something crudely resembling control. Agility!"_ The psychic pokemon's body began to vibrate with pent-up energy.

"Need it, will we?!" Magneto growled, offended. He stabbed the swords down into the heap of semisolid confectionary that was Death by Chocolate, then for good measure he wrapped his concentration around a pair of SUVs in the parking lot and pulled them to him, slamming them down on the demon and sending the whole wreck skidding back to the long row of glass doors that led into the mall.. Then he raised his hands in the air, calling something else. "I think the vehicles did it, but I'll make sure."

Unfortunately, the vehicles hadn't 'done it'. The demon climbed out from the wrecked cars, panting and pulling one of the swords from his back. "Holy swords, hah!" He threw it to the ground, and the sword reverted to its true form - shrinking and unfolding into a Bible page. "Your weak little Christian magic won't work on me, Kirei!"

"Remember me?" Axel called, shooting some flames at the exposed gas tank of one of the vehicles. Death jumped and rolled before the entire pile exploded in a jet of flame, only for Axel to jump forward, swinging his chakrams high, low, back and forth. The demon created a pair of battleaxes to parry with, but the blades melted through and he was struck in the face anyway. He stumbled back to a planter, only for roots to reach out from it and ensnare him around the abdomen. "Good, Marluxia, hold him right there." Axel began to build up a massive fire spell, flames coalescing into a concentrated sphere in front of him. His body beginning to soften and melt, Death leaned away from the flames, gritting his teeth. "Any last words, or do you feel like paying us for services rendered now?"

"I have some last words: fuck you." Death by Chocolate fully liquefied his body, dodging the fireball that Axel quickly launched with a curse, and oozed along the ground at a deceptively fast pace. Marluxia tried to impale the liquid chocolate with his scythe, only for the demon to crawl up the blade and reform behind him, pinning the Nobody's arms. "Nice try," the delicious demon said with a grin before spikes formed on the inside of his arms, impaling Marluxia in several places.

"Gah!" Marluxia coughed up a bit of blood, but regained his composure and slammed his head back into Death by Chocolate's face, shattering his nose. DbC staggered back, more from surprise than pain, and Axel was able to blast him with a stream of fire, half-melting him. Death managed to pull himself back together, groaning with the effort, and stumbled out of the way of the next fireblast.

_"Bulk Up."_ Mewtwo's small muscles increased in size a little bit as they tensed. He repeated, _"Bulk Up,"_ and they tensed a bit more, veins beginning to bulge under his skin. Next to him, Magneto was concentrating on something above them so hard his nose was bleeding. _"Is that necessary?"_

"An impact alone doesn't do enough," Magneto replied, his breaths gasping and uneven. "I thought the added heat from entering the atmosphere would be more effective."

_"Calm Mind." _ Mewtwo's muscles shrank back to their normal size, although the aura of tension remained. _"An applaudable tactic… homo superior."_ Mewtwo's eyes narrowed slightly in what may have been a smile. _"Calm Mind."_

Meanwhile, Death by Chocolate had managed to turn the tables on Axel, currently blasting the red-haired Nobody with a twelve-gauge shotgun he had created out of chocolate. Axel stumbled back, coughing. "You aren't bulletproof, I see," the demon laughed. "If you have no heart, where's all this blood coming from?" He primed the barrel with a pump and fired again, and a spatter of red fell from Axel's dark robes. "You know, why don't we open you up and find out what's in that chest of yours." He held the shotgun to the side, and it transformed into a wicked-looking axe on a long handle. Laughing with bloodlust, Death sprinted forward, closing the distance between him and the Heartless…

"Vexen, now!" Axel yelled, opening a portal on the ground that he fell forward into. DbC stopped and looked up, frowning as the springtime sun was blocked out. A tremendous block of ice, nearly the size of a house, was hovering ominously above him.

"I've had enough of this," Vexen called. Chuckling, the scientist Nobody gave a slight hand gesture, and the block descended on the demon, crushing him into the concrete. "I've been watching the demon," he stated. "His chocolate body is articulated because he constantly shifts his joints between solid and liquid state. That block of ice is at negative one hundred degrees Celsius – there's no way he can move at all, let alone liquefy his body. In addition, the pressure it exerts further prevents his escape. He's at our mercy."

"Where _am_ I bleeding from?" Axel wondered, reappearing from his portal next to Vexen.

"Be silent, number eight. I'll explain the different uses of the word 'heart' to you later." Suddenly, there was an explosion of pulverized snow at the top of the ice block. "What?! How?!"

Death by Chocolate crawled out of the ice, gasping, his right hand and forearm transformed into a large spiraling drill. "This is a drill," he explained, struggling to his feet. "That's how."

"You have liquid joints, don't you? How did you transform? How did you _move?!_"

"My joints don't _need _to be liquid," the demon replied. "I can also transform my joints to move on mechanical principles." He raised his left arm, which was modeled like a puppet's or a mannequin's, with hinge and ball-and-socket joints. "When the ice dropped, I detonated most of my body, giving me some room and a bit of heat. Before my reforming body froze up again, I changed it into this form." He shivered. "That was clever, I'll give you that. You've really messed me up, at least for the moment. However…" the demon's chocolate body creaked as he crouched, then sprang toward the cryokinetic. "You'll need to do better than that to destroy a Patron Spirit!" His drill impacted Vexen's shield, grinding into it and kicking up a flurry of sparks. Cracks formed along drill and shield alike, until both Vexen's weapon and Death by Chocolate's entire right arm split into pieces at the same time. Not wanting to waste his chance, the demon followed up with a left cross to Vexen's face, a knee in his gut that forced him to double over, and an elbow to the back of his head that slammed him to the back of the ground.

"My Freeze Pride," Vexen gasped, struggling to get up. "My shield..."

"Insert joke about pride being your downfall here!" DbC laughed, raising his foot to crush Vexen's spine. However, Axel dove for the demon and pushed him away first, following up with a slice from his chakram that broke away DbC's other arm. "DAMMIT! I need those to interact with things!" DbC yelled, bashing his horns into Axel's skull in retaliation. He jumped back from the stunned Nobody, taking stock of his surroundings. "Damn… I need another minute before my body warms up enough to begin regenerating."

"Having trouble, my brittle friend?" Marluxia dropped from the air, slashing at DbC. He dodged back, and Marluxia swung the smaller-bladed back of the weapon in a backswing at his head. The demon ducked under the blow, but it still caught and broke his horns, prompting another burst of profanity.

_"Cosmic Power."_ Lights began to appear about Mewtwo as stellar energy surrounded him. _"Almost ready. Focus Energy!"_

"What took you, Marluxia?" Axel asked his fellow conspirator, who was now struggling to get DbC to let the scythe go – the demon was hanging on desperately with his teeth. "Vexen almost died there."

Marluxia could have said, "That's what I was hoping for," which would have been true, but instead he chose to reply with the equally truthful "I was preparing this!" With that, he slammed a large seed into DbC's chest. "This plant should rapidly devour the sugars and carbohydrates in the demon's body, while immune to his alkali nature. It will easily finish him!" Sure enough, vines began to burst from the seed and begin to lash about, and Death by Chocolate tripped and fell to the ground, apparently suffering from the seed's effects as he screamed in pain.

"Had enough, 'boss'?" Axel laughed. "Maybe you'll comply with our demand now."

The demon was thrashing so hard that a piece of his leg broke off and bounced away. "Go to hell," he managed, coughing up very small bits of chocolate.

"Suit yourself, then," Axel said with a shrug, picking up the broken foot and walking away with Marluxia. Groaning, Vexen got to his knees before warping to Magneto and Mewtwo's side, where the other two Organization members arrived. "Ready, Magneto?"

"It's here!" Magneto finally dropped his arms as the sky began to turn red. The others looked up and saw a small meteor, burning bright as the sun, plummeting towards the demon, whose struggles began to slow. "Take cover!" He pulled up several more cars and piled them in front of the five. Vexen reached out an arm and created a barrier of ice around the cars, reinforcing them.

The explosion was tremendous, destroying much of the plaza in front of this section of the mall and fracturing most of the windows on that side. Of the contestants fighting their own battles that still stood, nearly half were knocked over by the force of the blast. Magneto and Mewtwo's ability to levitate saved them from the shock, but Vexen and Marluxia had to reinforce their footing with roots and ice, respectively, and Axel had to get down in a crouch and dig his weapons into the concrete. Afterwards, Magneto was the first to peek over the half-melted wall and take a look at the damage. "He's gone," the mutant terrorist reported solemnly.

"I thought we weren't trying to finish him!" Marluxia said angrily.

"That's what this is for." Axel held up the chocolate foot as if it were a skull and he were Hamlet, its toes hanging limply. "I figure he'll eventually reconstitute himself from this, but it will take him a… while?" A spike of chocolate burst from the foot, stabbing into Axel's jugular vein. "Gagck!" Axel observed, dropping the demonic chocolate.

"Nice going, number eight," Vexen scoffed. "Your body heat restored the demon to a comfortable temperature for him."

"That's right," Death by Chocolate growled, his body fully reforming. Wasting no time, he immediately formed two handguns and blasted Axel several times in the chest, causing him to drop to the ground. Marluxia swung his scythe at the demon, but he simply melted where the blade touched him, and then solidified with the scythe's axis stuck in his chest, immobilizing the weapon. "This is for that seed." He brought up his guns and fired at Marluxia, point-blank. One bullet went through the pink-haired Nobody's eye, and he dropped with a scream.

Next, DbC turned his guns on Magneto, blasting him several times. However, the bullets could dent the mutant's armor, but not break it. Staggering back, Magneto waved an arm and took control of the scythe still in the demon's body, using it to throw him back against the stack of ice-coated cars. "Away with you!" Vexen cried, creating two circular saws made of ice and throwing them at the demon. Snarling, Death raised a revolver and began unloading at Vexen, who desperately tried to dodge. The seventh round pierced the side of the scientist's neck, throwing off his concentration enough that one of the blades shattered upon hitting the demon, and the other missed entirely. "Seven rounds in a six-barrel revolver… what?" Vexen muttered, fading in and out of consciousness.

"As long as I'm touching the revolvers," DbC kindly explained, freeing himself from Marluxia's scythe so Magneto couldn't throw him anymore, "I can reload them even as I fire. My ammo is limited only by my regeneration." The demon suddenly had to dodge Marluxia's scythe again, which Magneto sent spinning through the air. "Stupid fucking everything is made of metal these days!" Death by Chocolate turned and shot a few bullets at Magneto, aiming for his face. A couple glanced off the mutant's helmet before he quickly darted far back, putting a hundred and fifty paces between himself and the demon in only a few seconds.

"Your bullets aren't made of metal, and that's enough trouble for me already!" the older mutant protested. Growling, Death by Chocolate combined the revolvers into a mass of chocolate that quickly reformed as a submachine gun, which he began firing several rounds per second from. Magneto raised his arms and gritted his teeth for the hail of fire… but it never came. He looked up.

A large, ornate and colorful claymore, tipped with a cross, was being held in front of his upper body. Holding the claymore was a blue-haired Organization XIII member. "Axel! Vexen! Marluxia!" Saix barked. "Let's go! Xemnas has ordered you to retreat and regroup!"

"Yes, sir," Vexen muttered, sealing his and Axel's neck wounds with ice. "Come, Marluxia." Holding his hand over his ruined eye and groaning, Marluxia grabbed his scythe and disappeared into a portal. Vexen grabbed the unconscious Axel and did the same.

"You're interfering!" DbC shouted, rushing Saix while transforming the machine gun into a pair of katana. Saix darted forward in response, bringing up his blade in a lightning-fast parry of the demon's attack, and Death by Chocolate's left blade shattered on the claymore. He followed up by swinging his right sword low, but Saix's sword dipped with speed that belied its size and shattered Death's other sword. "Bastard!" DbC's arm suddenly extended beyond its maximum reach and he pierced Saix's shoulder with a broken sword, drawing some blood. The Nobody responded by gritting his teeth and driving his other shoulder into the demon's chest with enough force to knock him over and leave a spiderweb of cracks along his torso.

"You've made a very dangerous foe in Organization XIII, demon," Saix said impassively as he stepped back into a portal. "We'll be back." And then he was gone, only a few drops of blood left behind.

Death by Chocolate didn't take long to ponder the ranked Nobody's words. Instead he turned on an exhausted-looking Magneto. "Well, my mortal friend, it's just you and me now. You tried to compete with forces you cannot comprehend…" he created a new handgun from the broken swords. Hastily, Magneto compacted a car into a barrier and brought it between himself and the demon. "And now you'll pay the price," the demon chuckled, easily melting under the floating, crushed automobile and reforming on the other side. Magneto tried to fold it shut like a book and trap DbC, but he jumped above the snapping metal and aimed his gun at the aging mutant's face. "The meteorite was impressive, but…"

"_Confusion!"_

"What?!" DbC suddenly found himself jerked around in midair, his body twisted and spun around at the apex of his leap. Just as suddenly, he was thrown to the ground hard enough to break most of his limbs and fracture the concrete. Quickly repairing himself, Death by Chocolate saw Mewtwo approaching as he climbed to his feet. "Bastard! So, you finally decided to join us!"

"_Thunderbolt!"_ Mewtwo extended one paw, palm-up, and a powerful bolt of electricity arced out from his thick, rounded fingers. It struck the chocolate fiend square in the chest, and he stumbled back, yelling in surprise and pain as the front of his chest boiled. Mewtwo's body shone with its own light, and his feet crackled with free energy whenever they dipped close to the paved ground. His power was neither holy nor hellish; it was the frightful artificiality of a primal force of nature, reshaped to the whims of man. _"Magneto, cover me," _he communicated privately.

"Cover you?!" Magneto began to snap, but he quickly regained his composure. Perhaps it was because of his psychic nature, but Mewtwo's calm was contagious, and Magneto only needed a single deep breath to gather his bearings. "What can I do?" he asked.

"_Prevent Death by Chocolate's escape, if he attempts it. And don't allow anybody else to interfere."_

"I don't know what you think you're doing," Death growled, "but I assure you, I'm not entertained." He fired his gun at Mewtwo, while simultaneously closing in on him.

"_Reflect." _With a wave of his hand, Mewtwo called in a shield that broke the bullets as they struck. _"Psychic!"_ The feline Pokemon countered with a strong telekinetic blast that knocked Death of his feet and sent him tumbling through the air. _"It's funny… all I wanted in compensation was a worthy opponent to fight."_ The crashing sound of shattered glass rent the air as Death by Chocolate was hurled through the mall's front doors and into the lobby._ "You'll provide me with one, demon, whether you want to or not!"_

**End of Chapter**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed what I have written so far. This chapter was mostly DbC vs. Org 13 and Magneto, and next chapter will be mostly DbC versus full-power Mewtwo. I wasn't sure how much extra durability Nobodies are supposed to have compared to humans - Axel & company survive a few mortal wounds here. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask in a review.**

**Next: Mewtwo's powered himself up to the extreme - can an exhausted Death by Chocolate hold his own against this genetically augmented Pokemon?  
**


End file.
